


Miss Me?

by Vorcha_Girl



Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fluff, Friendship/Love, Hurt/Comfort, Kissing, Love, Mutual Pining, Reunions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-16
Updated: 2018-03-16
Packaged: 2019-04-01 02:16:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13988367
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vorcha_Girl/pseuds/Vorcha_Girl
Summary: Cerberus promised to bring Shepard back, but Joker hadn't really believed it until now. Until she was close enough for him to see those same spots of brown in her bright green eyes ...





	Miss Me?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [JulesHawke](https://archiveofourown.org/users/JulesHawke/gifts).



> A/N - A short Shoker drabble which was floating around in my head. ^_^ Enjoy!

Seeing Shepard again, actually seeing her walk towards him and seeing the light that lit up her eyes when she recognised him, hit Joker like a punch to the gut. Or what he imagined a punch to the gut would be like since he'd never actually been punched. The floor seemed to wobble beneath him and his legs, which had been working normally a few moments before, abruptly seemed to forget how to work properly and he stumbled.

Cerberus had said they would bring her back. He'd hoped. He'd dreamed. He'd turned his back on the Alliance based on their promises, but ... he hadn't really believed it until now. Until she was close enough for him to see those same spots of brown in her bright green eyes, and for him to see that the smile on her face was genuine,  _relieved_.

  _Thank God_ , her smile seemed to say. _You’re here_.

 For a moment, less than a heartbeat, he wondered if he'd done the right thing by coming here, as Miranda appeared over her shoulder like a slender Cerberus spider. She watched them, her eyes cool and appraising; a scientist watching two mice in a maze. Was he helping  _them_  more than Shepard, he wondered? Was this  _their_  trap instead of her salvation?

  _Did he care if it meant getting Jane back?_

 The thought shook him to his very core. Then her arms were around him and the hesitation was gone. Instead there was _Jane_. The trembling feel of her arms around his neck, the familiar smell of her skin and hair, and the damp of her tears against his neck.

 They clung to one another, holding tight as the world turned.

 A joke rose in Jeff's throat, a desperate attempt to break the emotion of the moment as she held onto him and cried as though he wasn't the one who had killed her. As though he hadn't been the one responsible for his death. As though she was glad to see him.

 He swallowed it back down, his eyes blurring with tears as they stood in silence, the knot in his chest slowly unravelling when she didn't melt away like a ghostly vision and he didn't wake up.

 Real.

 This was real.

 Slowly, Joker drew back and used his thumb to wipe away a tear that lingered on Shepard's lower lashes, clinging and shimmering in the light. She met his gaze, her eyes sparkling with everything she'd never said, with that unspoken thing between them, and Jeff's heart almost burst with everything he wanted to say.

 He leaned closer and brushed his lips against hers, no longer caring it Miranda saw them.

 "Hey Jane," he murmured huskily. "Miss me?"

 She smiled, _Jane smiled_ , and pressed her forehead to his. "You were the first thing on my mind when I woke up." Then she laughed. "That and explosions."

 "So, nothing's changed?" Joker teased, and held her just the little bit tighter, the sound of her laughter something he'd never thought to ever head again.

 Shepard grinned. "Nothing at all."


End file.
